A Moment Of Weakness
by AmaranthEternity
Summary: Set after Advent Children. A celebration takes place, but two characters find they don't wish to be there. An unexpected turn of events comes due to a single dance, and a little help from the moonlight.


**This story's happier than "The Killing Moon", as it only has one chapter, and no murders! Yay! Enjoy! I thought this up one night. I'm unsure how the idea came to me but...here goes! **

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The dark-haired male really wasn't all that certain of how he had allowed for the others to drag him into this. A formal dance? Really? He couldn't _dance, _surely...Even if he could, he wouldn't _want _to. It was a party that had been set up in celebration of defeating Sephiroth and the remnants, and also for stamping out Geostigma, and it seemed like not one individual had escaped the invitations. The whole planet had been invited by the looks of things, and that included ShinRa members, WRO members, and so on. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Just what he needed: claustrophobia, and a lot of unnecessary noise. The dance hall was large, with a high ceiling, from which hung several chandeliers. It was decked out to look formal and rather grand, but still, it was a wonder that everyone had managed to fit inside without ruining their suits or dresses. (Oh, yes...'a formal occasion calls for formal wear!' or so Tifa had ordered, anyway...the last time he had worn something like this was when he was still wearing Turk uniform all those years ago. When he thought of that, he snarled at the unwanted memories that were also recalled.) Sighing, he turned away from the party, hiding within the shadows in the darkest corner of the otherwise fairly well-lit room. This wasn't what he wanted at all. What was wrong with a little peace and quiet...?

He was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the sharp jab of an elbow nudging his ribs, soon followed by the extremely large, loud voice of Cid:

"Hey, Vince, lookin' sharp! Nice to see they finally managed to peel the usual vampire costume off ya!"

Well, Vincent should have known that he wouldn't be able to hide forever. Without a word, he merely raised one eyebrow and headed through the large glass doors that led outside. "What am I even _doing _here...?" he grumbled to himself as he slowly walked through the garden, kicking any stones that fell across his path. Eventually, he came to a stop, looking to one side to admire his surroundings. It was rather picturesque: a large field of grass stretched out around him, and through the grass ran the gravel path that he was currently standing on. This path led up to a decent sized wooden gazebo which was painted white, a black tiled roof covering the top. Around the outside of the gazebo ran several different species of flowers, including roses. It seemed that the decorators of the hall had even taken this gazebo into account, as around the lattice walls of the gazebo, roses had been placed through means of threading and winding the stems around the wood. The inside was dimly lit through use of what looked like candlelight. Upon closer inspection, the shadowed figure of a female could be seen. It seemed that she had already noticed him, as she had stood up and began approaching him, and it was then that Vincent recognised her. Even in a white dress that she was wearing, (Vincent couldn't help but raise an eyebrow upon observing the fact that the dress only just reached her knees) it was rather easy to recognise her due to her features: short blond hair cut in a way which made it seem that one side was longer than the other, and light, honey-coloured eyes.

Under the pale light of the full moon in the sky, the two studied eachother as though they were meeting for the first time...but this was definitely not their first encounter. The blonde female spoke first:

"Well. This is a surprise. Wasn't expecting to see you at a dance, Valentine...almost didn't recognise you for a second there, 'cause of the suit, and all." She sounded amused, and a sweet smile graced her lips as she gazed up at the dark-haired man before her. However, Vincent just looked away, unable to believe that he had been found again. This was really beginning to get just a little unfair! Can't a man hide in peace anymore?

"Yes...I'm surprised I'm here, also..."

Elena let out a soft giggle in response to this. After a few moments, she calmed down a bit before asking: "Does that mean you can dance, then?"

Vincent remained silent, his heart beating somewhat faster and harder than usual. Maybe it was just the moonlight that did it, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel that the young Turk looked almost beautiful as she stood before him. Suddenly, he felt his eyes widen as Elena grabbed his hand without warning, leading him towards the gazebo and proceeding to position him appropriately for a waltz. No...he wouldn't be charmed by her regardless of the effects that the moon and candlelight created! The dark-haired male was determined not to embarrass himself, and dancing...well...that was embarrassing...especially if it turned out that this situation had been set up by people he knew. Who would do that, though? Well, he could think of a few names. In any case, he took a few steps away from Elena, turning his head and closing his eyes. "I...I can't." he stated firmly, shaking his head once.

"Want me to teach you?" Elena asked, her sweet smile slowly turning into sly smirk. She was determined that she _would _have it her way, whether he liked it or not. Without even giving Vincent a chance to respond, Elena had gently grabbed his hands again, placing one on her shoulder, the other on her hip. When she had done this, a faint blush had appeared on Vincent's cheeks as he gazed at her, seeming unsure. He was just a little uncomfortable with this, but he had discovered that it was pointless arguing with Elena, so instead, he simply watched as the young Turk proceeded to place her hands on his shoulder and hip. With this done, that soft blush on Vincent's pale cheeks deepened, but as usual: his mouth remained shut. "I'll lead, ok? So just follow me." He really had no choice in the matter, and he just knew that he was going to regret doing this. Even so, he followed, the steps coming naturally to him. In truth, this wasn't actually the first time he had ever done this particular dance, and the fact that Elena had just raised an eyebrow and looked at him in slight confusion communicated that she had just discovered that little secret. She came to a stop, her smirk growing by just a fraction as she asked: "You_ do_ know how to do this...and you know it pretty well, too. Wanna try leading?"

No. No, he didn't. But part of him was rather tempted to continue. Something about the way they had danced just seemed right. "I...suppose..." he murmured, still feeling just a little uncomfortable, but trying his best to ignore it. With only a moment's hesitation, he continued the dance, leading her. It was somewhat surprising that a woman with a career such as a Turk would be able to dance in such a way...but then again, missions were unpredictable things that sometimes required a vast range of skills. Perhaps that was why.

Finally, after quite some time, they came to a stop. They glanced at each other once more, and unlike before, both were smiling, their hands joined. After sighing softly, Elena thanked him for the dance, gazing up at the roof of the gazebo. Vincent shook his head, chuckling softly as he released her hand rather reluctantly and shrugging as he murmured: "It's was...something of a pleasure. When I arrived, I cringed at the very thought of dancing, but that...wasn't so bad..." They remained in silence, each trying to think of what to say or do next. Surprisingly, Vincent was the first to speak...that was a rather rare occurence. "Elena." he began, waiting until she turned to face him before deciding to continue. "Erm...you've surprised me greatly, tonight. For...several reasons..."

"Reasons like..." she began, leaving the sentence open for him to complete.

"Well...the dance, for one...as well as your...attire." he explained, placing one hand gingerly on her shoulder and stepping closer to her in order to get a better look at her face. She was wearing a minium amount of make-up, he noticed, drawing his attention mainly to her eyes. The colour of her eyes was a somewhat strange one...honey-coloured, or even gold depending on how the light hit them. Before he realised just what he was doing, he had reached down, and gently placed his free hand against her cheek, eliciting a light blush over her cheeks, as well as his own. "You look truly spectacular...very beautiful." Her blush deepened as she heard those words escape from his lips, those wonderful eyes of hers widening just little. She had opened her mouth to speak, but before she had the chance to, he had silenced her with his lips, tenderly kissing her. (He was unsure of what had led him to do such things...was his behaviour appropriate? How would she react? What would she think of him...?) After a moment of shock, Elena had calmed somewhat, her eyes closing as her arms wrapped around him. Vincent moved one of his hands from Elena's cheek to entangle it with her hair, as he slid his other hand down her back, wrapping his arm around her waist and holding her close to him. This truly was a moment of weakness...he had failed to resist the temptations that came with being alone with a beautiful woman...but it was then that he began thinking: maybe the party hadn't been such a bad idea after all...


End file.
